Praying of the Rosary Is NOT Bible-Based Teaching

Praying The Rosary Is Not Biblical, And Is A Form Of Idolatry

Just last Sunday, a local newspaper paper released an article teaching that the praying of the Holy Rosary is Bible-based. In the first two paragraphs, the writer admittedly says that there is no passage in the Bible teaching nor mentioned about the praying of Rosary.

However, in the following paragraphs, the writer justified the praying of the Rosary basing it on the repetition of historical events of some Bible characters (like Gideon as he mentioned) about Israel’s history.

I don’t know if the writer of this article did some research about the origin of rosary and how it was deeply encouraged for Roman Catholics.

Praying of Rosary was encouraged when Lucia Dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto claimed to have an apparation from an angel teaching them to pray in the spring of 1916. They were asked to pray repeatedly by the angel who appeared to them. This is why the Catholics were convinced that they have to pray repeatedly.

The flaw however in the story was that, the angel gave two sets of completely different prayers. The angel appeared to the three children three times.

Then after a year, 1917, it was said that Our Lady of Rosary had an apparitions for 7 times. In her second apparition the Our Lady said:

“I wish you to come here the 13th of next month; that you say the Rosary every day, and that you learn to read. In succeding months I will tell you what else I want.” “I would like to ask you to bring us to Heaven“, said Lucy. “Yes, Giacinta and Francis will be among the few, but you must stay here for a long time. Jesus wants to help Himself of you to make Me known and loved. God wishes you to remain in the world for some time because He wants to use you to establish in the world a devotion to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation to those who embrace it, and their souls will be loved by God as flowers placed by myself to adorn His throne.” Lucy asked: “Will I stay here alone”?, “Don’t be discouraged , I will not abandon you ever. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and through it will conduct you to God.”

Now here are the flaws of this apparition. First, the Our Lady is telling the children to teach the people to make her known and be loved. Note that the apparition was initiated not by Jesus, nor an angel, but the very person who wants to be made known. It is like, someone came to you and asked you using the name of your friend to introduce her to other people that you know.

The second flaw, Our Lady promises salvation to those who embrace this command. A completely heretical claim, and totally in contrast to what the Bible is saying. The Bible is very clear in saying that “…whosoever believes in Him (Jesus) will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).” Only God can give salvation. This is the Biblical truth that cannot be altered, deducted nor added.

Third flaw, Our Lady claims that her immaculate heart will be our refuge and through it will conduct you to God. This is another contradiction to what the Bible is saying. “Come to me all you labor and are heavily burdened and I will give you rest (Matt.11:28)”, “I am the way the truth and the life, NO ONE comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6)”.

The truth is, there is only one mediator between God and man, it is only Jesus Christ (Hebrews chapters 6,7,8,9, and 10)

This is the statement coming from the third apparition:

“In october I will tell you who I am, that which I want, and I will do a miracle that all can see and believe. Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say often this prayer, especially during any sacrifice: “O my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for all the sins commited against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.“

The flaw of the third apparition is the claiming of honor which belongs to Jesus Christ, and the idea of co-equality with Jesus. Though she did not claim co-equality, but the fact of showing that people committed sins against her proposes the idea of deity that people needs to be so sorry for not recognizing her. The Bible tells us that there are three persona where we committed sins, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And now, here comes the Mary, an addition to the Holy Trinity.

“You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save future souls God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If people do what I tell you, many souls will be saved.” Then She said:” If my requests are granted, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will scatter her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecution of the Church. The good will be martyed, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be destroyed…But in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, Russia will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world“. “Do you want to learn a prayer?” the vision asked, “Yes we do!” the children responded. “When you recite the Rosary, say at the end of each decade: Oh My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Your Mercy.“

Now let’s look at this additional quotations from the third apparition. This is more like “Our Lady” centered command rather than “Jesus” centered command. Russia will be consecreted to Our Lady of Rosary than instead of Jesus. Notice the number of recitation of the Rosary. At the end of each decade (10), there is only one calling for Jesus help.

This is quoted from the last (6th) apparition

“I am the Lady of the Rosary, I desire here a chapel in my honor to be built, that people continue to recite the Rosary every day. Will the war finish. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.” Then Lucy asked: “may I ask you for cures and conversions, will you grant them?”. “Some yes, others no. It is necessary that they ask pardon for their sins, that they don’t offend God our Lord, and that he is already too much offended.” “Do you Want anything else from me?” Lucy asked. “I do not want anything more.“

The flaw of the 6th apparition is that the Lady of the Rosary is asking for a chapel in “HER” honor, and not Jesus’ nor the Father’s honor. We have to note that taking glory which supposed to be for God is a serious sin, this is idolatry.

The apparition is completely directing people in a wrong path. It is completely in contradiction with what the Bible is saying. The Bible warn us about these kinds of apparitions in Galatians 1:8 “But even though we (referring to Paul and his companions) or an angel from heaven, which should preach to you any gospel other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.” This is a strong warning that we should be careful in believing apparitions especially if it gives another teachings that what the Bible already have taught us.

Just some additional observations concerning the apparition of Our Lady of Rosary. Our Lady appeared “6” times. In Hebrew culture (the Israelite culture), 6 is the imperfect number. A number usually associated with evil things. Thus, the number of the Beast in the Book of Revelations tells us that it is 666.

Another observation is the dates of the apparition. The apparition dates are significantly on the 13th of every month of that year. Even until, Roman Catholics believe that 13th is always associated with evil things like Friday the 13t h bad luck and not placing 13th floor on buildings. Not to mention all the horror movies that happens on Friday the 13th.

Now let me ask you, do you really believe that these apparitions comes from God? These apparition and commands are completely in contrast to what the Bible teaches us. They are “Our Lady of Rosary” centered rather than “God” centered. The apparitions promotes glory and honor for “Our Lady of Rosary” rather than the glory of God. And finally, even culture related things are in contradiction to the apparitions. Not to mention its lack of Apostolicity and Biblical support.

The praying of Rosary is another heretical belief of the Roman Catholic church to which Catholics are willing fight for.

15 Comments

zuma
on August 11, 2018 at 4:41 pm

Catholics have wrong definition of the word, idolatry, since they refer it to people merely worship something other than God. Yet Exodus 20:4, “(forbids them to make anything since it mentions) Thou shalt not make…any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:”. The phrase, any graven image… of any thing that is in heaven above, in Exodus 20:4 could refer to anything in heaven, i.e. God, Jesus Christ and even angels. As the phrase, any likeness, here covers anything that would portray anything in heaven, it forbids them to create the image in their mind or photographs on how Jesus or angels should look like to serve them. As the phrase, any graven image…that is in the earth beneath, here should refer to any human being or thing in this world, i.e. money, Mary, Jesus and saints, it forbids them to create statue of Jesus to remind them that Jesus is God. The phrase, any graven image…that is in the water, here should refer to any sea creatures, i.e. fish and whales. Thus, the word, idol, covers anything that is made by human beings. The phrase, Thou shalt not…nor serve them, in Exodus 20:5 implies none should serve anything that they create. Catholics forbid the sin of idolatry and yet use statues, paintings, and other artistic devices to commemorate certain people and events. They even cite Exodus 25:18-20, 1 Chronicles 28:18-19, Ezekiel 41:17-18 and Numbers 21:8-9 for the support that He did not forbid to treat them as for ‘religious use’. Could Buddhists support the same that they worship Him instead of worshipping idols since they stand in front of them to commemorate Him or to give respect of Him? The phrases, the LORD spake; the LORD said; the word of the LORD; and, the LORD hath chosen thee to build, in Exodus 25:1, Numbers 21:8-9, 1 Kings 6:11 and 1 Chronicles 28:10 respectively imply these were His commandments to demand them to make statues. As these were His commandments to make them, their making of the above devices would turn up not to be against Exodus 20:4 since these should be their act in obedience to Exodus 20:6, “…keep (His) commandments.”. However, that does not imply He would encourage them to use them as religious devices to commemorate Him and other event after they had built them. This is by virtue of 2 Kings 18:3-4, “(mention)…he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made…”. For instance, if He would encourage people to use it to serve as a reminder that He did call Moses to make it, why should 2 Kings 18:3-4, “(mention) he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD…(to) brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made…”? Instead, his act in 2 Kings 18:3-4, “…(breaking) in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made…” should annoy Him since Numbers 21:9, “…the LORD (was the One to instruct)…Moses (to)… Make…a fiery serpent…”. As 2 Kings 18:3-4 mention it was right in the sight of the LORD for him to break in pieces what He had commanded Moses to make in the past, it implies people could make them only if He had commanded them to do so. After making them, He did not desire them to use them for religious devices to commemorate event. Or else, there should not be any reason why it was right in His sight for him to destroy it lately. As the phrase, all that David his father did, is mentioned in 2 Kings 18:3 with the phrase, removed the high places…and brake the images, in 2 Kings 18:4, it implies the same that David did the same as what he did to remove them to be used for religious devices. From the above analyses, it is irrational to use the above verses to support He encourages people to use what He has commanded them to commemorate the past event. As Catholics support they could use a carved image for religious use to commemorate events or saints, why should 2 Chronicles 33:7 mention the phrase, a carved image…the idol which he had made, to equate a carved image with idol? Besides, if He permits idol to be used in the church, why should 2 Chronicles 33:15, “(mention)…he took away…the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD…and cast them out of the city.”? For instance, if statues and altars could be for religious use, there should not be any reason for 2 Chronicles 33:15 to mention he not only cast away idol but also all the altars in the house of the LORD. If everything in the church could never turn up to be idol, why should 2 Chronicles 34:5, “(mention)…he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.”? If the bones of the priests in the house of God could be used to commemorate event and people, there should not be any reason for him to burn also 2 Chronicles 34:5, “the bones of the priests…”. As Psalms 135:15, “(mentions) The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.”, why should rosaries be not treated as idols since they are the work of men’s hands? The same is in Isaiah 2:8, “(that mentions) Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:”. Catholics create statues, painting, rosaries, and other artistic devices that He did not command them to make and yet they permit to use them in their churches. They sometimes bow or kneel in front of statues of Jesus and the saints and yet they support they do not commit the sin of idolatry due to their argument that not all bowing is worship since bowing in Japan is a kind of greeting in showing respect. Refer to the definition of the word, bow, in the website, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H7812&t=KJV, has been defined as bowing down or prostrating oneself before false gods. Psalms 95:6, “(equates both kneeling and bowing down with worshipping since it mentions)…let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD…”. If kneeling should not be treated as worshipping, there should not be any reason for Psalms 95:6, “(to mention)…worship and bow down: let us kneel…”. They justify themselves with human reasoning that their act in bowing down or kneeling down before idols is not the sin of idolatry. However, they have to consider His thought whether He considers it as a sin. He is the One that sets the rule in Exodus 20:3-4 is the One to execute His judgement according to what Exodus 32:33, “(mentions) Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.”. Even if Catholics would outsmart themselves to argue they do not commit the sin with their reasoning, they could not escape from His judgment that He would judge what He feels is right with His perception instead of with human reasoning since 2 Corinthians 5:10, “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…whether it be…bad.”. 1 Corinthians 4:4, “…he that judgeth me is the Lord.” Catholics mention that they do not worship Mary but admire her due to she was Jesus’ mother. As a result, they use her as prayer partner to pray to God instead of praying to her. However, Hebrews 7:3, “(supports He does not have any mother since it mentions) Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” If she would have turned up to be His mother, it is irrational for Hebrews 7:3, “(to mention) Without…mother…unto the Son of God…”. If Mary admitted she was Her mother, why should Luke 1:43 mention she questioned when she had turned up to be Her mother? The following is the extract: Luke 1:43, “And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” If she had turned up to be Her mother, it is irrational for Luke 1:43 to mention the word, whence, since she should know she had turned up to be His mother at the time of her pregnancy and in her womb. She did not admit she was her mother since Luke 1:38, “(mentions)…Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word…”. The same is in Luke 1:48, “(that)…he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden…” As she regarded herself to be handmaid or handmaiden of the Lord, how could she be the mother of God then? Besides, when He was on earth, He did not admit Mary to be His mother since Matthew 12:46-47, “(mention)…thy mother…stand without…Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother…stand without…”, yet His reply to him was Matthew 12:48, “…Who is my mother?…he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother…!” For instance, if He would acknowledge Mary to be His mother, He should respect her and at least responded to her instead of treating her to be invisible and to ignore her by questioning who was Her mother in Luke 12:46-47. If she were His mother, His act in disrespecting her went against Exodus 20:12, “(that mentions) Honour thy father and thy mother…” and that caused Him to sin. As 1 Peter 2:21-22, “(mention)…Christ…did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:”, it implies His act in disrespecting her was not a sin. The only possible reason for Him to ignore her and not to respond to her was she was not His mother since there was no relationship between Him and her during His birth. As He did not give any respect to Mary in Luke 12:46-47, how could she be our prayers of intercession for us? As He did not give respect to her, how could her intercessory prayers be more powerful? If she had treated her to be Her mother, why should He stretch His hand to His disciples instead of to Mary and called them to be His mother? Subsequently He even mentioned anybody could be His mother if they would do His will since Matthew 12:50, “(mention)… whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”. If He had treated Mary to be His mother, why should Mark 13:57, “(mention) they were offended in him.” when they mentioned Matthew 13:55, “…is not his mother called Mary?…”? Instead, He should be glad when they mentioned Mary was His mother if He would treat her to be His mother on earth. The same is in Mark 3:32-33, “(that mention) There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without…And…they said…Behold, thy mother…without seek for thee…(Yet He did not admit her to be His mother since it mentions subsequently)…Who is my mother…? In Mark 3:35, “(He referred anyone who does His will to be His mother since it mentions)….whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is…my…mother.”. When He was alive on earth, He did not call Mary to be His mother since John 19:26, “(mention)…he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!” If He would address Mary to be His mother, why should John 19:26 mention the word, Woman, instead of the word, mother? As He did not admit her to be His mother and even ignored her when someone told Him she was here, how could she be a prayer partner of Jesus?

The word “worship” has undergone a change in meaning in English. It comes from the Old English “weorthscipe”, which means “the condition of being worthy of honor, respect, or dignity.” To worship in the older, larger sense is to ascribe honor, worth, or excellence to someone, whether a sage, a magistrate, or God. For many centuries the term “worship”simply meant showing respect or honor. For example, British subjects refer to their magistrates as “Your Worship”though Americans would say “Your Honor.” It means that they are giving them the honor appropriate to their office, not the honor appropriate to God. Today, however, the English term worship has been narrowed in scope to indicate only that supreme form of honor, reverence, and respect that is due to God. So early Christian theologians began to differentiate between different types of honor to make clearer which is due to God and which is not. The early Christians used the Greek term “latria” to refer to the honor that is due to God alone (note that idolatry contains the suffix latria)and the term “dulia”to refer to the honor that is due to human beings, especially the saints. Scriptur indicates that honor is due to these individuals (Matthew 10:41). A special term was coined to refer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who bore Jesus – God the Son, ion her womb. This term, “hyperdulia,”indicates that the honor due to heras Christ’s own Mother is more than the dulia given to the other saints. It is greater in degree, but still of the same kind.However, since she is a finite creature, this honor due to her is fundamentally different from the latria owed to the infinite Creator.These 3 terms used to be lumped under one English word worship. Check Genesis 37:7-9, Gen 49:8, Exodus 18:7. On these 3 passages the term worship was used to translate the Hebrew word “shakkah”. It is appropriately used for humans, and is different from the kind of worship given to God. Also check Lev 19:32, Ex28:2, Rom 13:7, 1Tim 6:1, and the broadest command to honor is perhaps found in 1Pet 2:17. Paul also stresses the importance of honoring religious figures (1Tim5:17). So if there can be nothing wrong with honoring the living, who still have an opportunity to ruin their lives through sin, there certainly can be no argument against giving honor to saints whose lives are done and who ended them in sanctity.

During the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, Elizabeth was filled with the
Holy Spirit and cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb!(Luke 1:42)

But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?(Luke 1:43)
Elizabeth,filled with the Holy Spirit, called Mary as the Mother of her Lord.We call
Mary as the Mother of God because Jesus is God the Son and Mary is her mother.Whenever
we pray the Hail Mary, we are blessing Mary the way God the Father and God the Holy
Spirit did.( By the way, I believe you believe in the Holy Trinity but can you show me
where is that in the Bible?as well as altar calling, denominations, Sunday worship and
accept Jesus as your personal Savior? To name a few.)
Let us check Luke 1:46-48;
And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for
he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will
call me blessed,
From now on all generations will call Her blessed. Are you part of the generation that
calls her blessed? It is obvious then that those generations who bless Her are Her
children.And what about those who refuses to honor Her,are they those offsprings of the
devil?For there will always be two generations here on earth: Mary’s offsprings and the
Satan’s offsprings.No wonder why some Christians hate the Rosary, its the devil’s work.
Mary’s first offspring is Christ and those who call Christ their brother and Lord should
also accept Mary as their spiritual Mother.Mary can raise a Christian the way she raised Jesus in His hidden life in Nazareth.
The Holy Rosary is not an ordinary prayer.It is a meditative prayer consisting of vocal
and mental prayers.Mentally we meditate on the principal event of Jesus’and Mary’s life.
They are the mysteries of our salvation.They are entirely biblical.The vocal prayers
consists of Our Father (Jesus taught this prayer), Hail Mary, and Glory be( Glory be to
the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.As it was in the beginning is now and
ever shall be world without end.Amen.)

Keep it coming… You should be able to post everything. But please know that this site is protected by anti-spamming. Maybe it’s blocking you for posting comments 2-3 consecutive times within a short period of time. Anyway, please try it again.

serpent, which is satan, with his offspring, and the woman, which is Mary,and with her offspring. And the offspring of Mary will crush the head of the serpent.14So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspringa and hers; he will crushb your head, and you will strike his heel.”( Gen3:14-15)
We can see in Luke how Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary in that event known as the Annunciation. see Luke1:26-38.The annunciation is God’s announcement through the angel Gabriel of the coming Redeemer.Whenever we say Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, we are reminded by that joyful event when God,out of his infinite mercy and love for all of us, send His begotten Son to the world through Mary.She is full of grace because she bore in her womb the grace Himself Jesus Christ our Lord.If God Himself honoured Mary and chose her to be the mother of our Lord Jesus, who are we not to honor Her as well?And one of the flaws I saw on your comment above is equating honor and glory.To give honor is different from giving glory.Only God should be glorified.But we can give honor to those people worthy of it.Even in the ten commandments God said honor your father and your mother.If God commanded us to honor our earthly father and mother, what more is the mother of our Lord who in the cross,out of love for us, also given us the right to be her children and her to be our mother?Remember on the cross when Jesus told his mother, “Woman, behold your son?”and to John “Son, behold your mother?”

Hmmm… I think the complication is not in the words “honor” and “glory”. Jesus himself used this word several times for his disciples (ex. John17:22), but the main argument here is “what kind of honor” or “what kind of glory”.

Quoting what you said in your comment, “maybe you dont know the role of Mary in the salvation of men”. Can you please elaborate this role? But please mind you, if you are talking about Mary can save people, please give us a “Scriptural” background here.

What you have said in this 2nd comment are mostly true. And I think there is no argument with it except that, I can imagine you doing something more than honoring. We also honor Mary by the way, as a mother of Jesus. And again, we really don’t argue with the phrase “Mary full of grace the Lord is with you, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb…” simply because this is very Biblical.

But please clarify us those things that are NOT Biblical, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners…”

Also, in the Bible, you will never see an Apostle, a disciple or an angel who allowed themselves to be worshiped by bowing down before them in the form of worship. In fact, you will see lots of passages that they forbid this kind of “honoring” which leads to worship. But please, if there is anything in the Bible that says there, bow and worship “Mary” or at least do that kind of honoring, please quote us the passage. Thank you!

thank you for your attack against the rosary bros. You just proved how ignorant you are regarding the sound doctrines we have as Catholics. By the way would it not be more pleasing to God if you preach your own doctrines to your own ministry? Why bother to study your neighbors faith? To prove what?Are you jealous for what we have and what we believe? Or do you consider yourself as God and judge us according to your own understanding? Im pretty sure you know what the bible tells and what is not. Same like the Pharisees who mocked those who believe Jesus.They are the doctors of the law. Yet they were fool enough not to acknowledge Him. Or were they too proud with their standing that they’ve been blind?by the way be careful in judging others because Jesus said whatever measure you used to others will be the same measure that will be used unto you.And worst, Jesus told His disciples that “It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!”(Matt 10:25)
meaning: if the Catholic church was malignantly accused as 666 it is because Jesus Himself has been called Beelzebul by those teachers of the law who were supposed to be the one to recognize him as the Messiah.God bless us bros.And let all our souls not be lost. 🙂 May the Lady of the Rosary take care of our soul and may the Holy Spirit nourished us with true wisdom.that we may understand the TRUTH.we Catholics offer reparation to the immaculate heart of our Lady because of the ingratitude and disrespect we give to our Beloved Mother.maybe you dont know the role of Mary in the salvation of men.thanks God we know.and we have the peace of Christ. What about you, are you disturbed by our “idolatry-ism?”

@arcee
Don’t keep on babbling… please point out Biblical Scriptures about your arguments that Mary is a part of salvation. All you have been saying are personal attacks and not a refute of what has been posted. If you are pissed-off with what the Scriptures is saying and cannot answer nor refute these truths, then good luck to what you believe and stand. Nobody forces you to believe what was written here. After all, you will still find out what is true and what is wrong. when you face the Creator.

According to the “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” the Catholic doctrine of infallibility applies not only to the Pope, but also to Church Councils (including the Council of Trent). [Note 16]

As a result, the official statements of the Council of Trent are considered to be infallible. This means that they cannot be changed. Therefore, the anathemas of the Council of Trent cannot be revoked.

The Catholic Church may find it expedient not to call people’s attention to these anathemas, but it cannot revoke them.

The present preference for a gentler approach to people who disagree with Catholic doctrine may explain the apparent discrepancy between the Council of Trent and the ecumenical movement.

The Catholic Church is engaging in ecumenical dialog with Protestants, calling them “separated brethren,” and speaking as if it respects their beliefs. But at the same time, behind the scenes, it still officially declares that they are damned to hell because of their beliefs.

According to the “Catholic Encyclopedia,” a person’s religious belief is “outside the realm of free private judgment”. This is consistent with the spirit behind the anathemas of the Council of Trent. (You can read this article online.) [Note 8]

In his opening speech to the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII said that the Catholic Church has always opposed “errors” (disagreement with Roman Catholic doctrine). He said that the Catholic Church has often “condemned” them with great severity, but now it “prefers” to use mercy rather than severity. The Pope said that the Catholic Church is presently dealing with “errors” by doctrinal debate rather than by “condemnations”. [Note 9 has a link to this speech.]

The Catholic Church has never renounced its past practice of killing people that it considers to be heretics. On the contrary, the Office of the Inquisition still exists. It is part of the Roman Curia (the group of men who govern the Catholic Church). In 1965, its name was changed to “The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith”. It is headed by Cardinal Ratzinger. [Note 10]

Pope John Paul II issued a new edition of Roman Catholic Canon Law in 1983. According to Canon 752, whenever the Pope or the college of bishops makes a declaration concerning faith or morals, “the Christian faithful” are required to submit their mind and will to it. Furthermore, they must avoid anything which disagrees with it. (You can read this law online.) [Note 11]

According to Canon 1311, The Catholic Church has the right to coerce members of “the Christian faithful” who fail to comply with Canon Law. Canon 1312 says that offenses can be punished by depriving people of spiritual goods (such as the sacraments) and temporal goods (such as property, freedom, and other things relating to life in this world). [Note 12]

On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. After defining the dogma, the Pope said that if any person dares to disagree with his declaration then that person is cut off from the Catholic Church and is “condemned”. The Pope went on to say that if any person says, or writes, or in any other way outwardly expresses his or her “errors” then they become subject to punishment. (This encyclical is online.) [Note 13]

The Pope’s reference to punishment is significant because a man had been executed for heresy 28 years before this papal bull was issued. In 1826, a Spanish schoolmaster was hanged because he substituted the phrase “Praise be to God” in place of “Ave Maria” (“Hail Mary”) during school prayers. [Note 14]

On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII issued a papal bull defining the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. He ended by saying that it is forbidden for any person to oppose his declaration. He also said that any person who attempts to oppose the dogma will incur the wrath of God and the wrath of the Apostles Peter and Paul. (This encyclical is online.) [Note 15]

Although this papal bull doesn’t openly threaten punishment, it still implies the possibility of some form of punishment. The difference in tone may be a result of the fact that in 1854, a man had recently been executed for “heresy”. In 1950, the Catholic Church had less power.

Spiritual intimidation is not confined to doctrinal issues. For centuries, Popes used excommunication and interdicts in order to pressure secular rulers into submitting to them. Forty years ago, the Archbishop of Malta (a small island near Sicily) used spiritual intimidation to prevent Catholics from voting for the Labour Party candidate during Malta’s 1962 election. For documented information about this, please see my paper entitled “Spiritual Coercion”.

The numerologic signature of Satan are so clear in those apparitions!!!

Paul was so clear in

Ephesians 5:11-13
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.